File photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanEasthampton has failed to win a state grant to help build a boardwalk around Nashawannuck Pond, seen here last year.

EASTHAMPTON - Mayor Michael A. Tautznik said he’s disappointed the city failed to garner a state grant for the boardwalk project, but he said they will try again.

The city had applied this summer for funding under the Massworks Infrastructure program, which is part of the state’s Housing and Development office.

Tautznik said he found out last week the city did not receive money the money. He said the cost to build the boardwalk around Nashawannuck Pond from the shops on Cottage Street to the lower entrance of Brookside Cemetery on Williston Avenue is about $500,000.

“We’ll keep looking for other funding,” he said. The mayor sees the boardwalk as another means to make the city a destination. The city attracts visitors with its arts offerings but the boardwalk, he said, would provide an actual physical draw.

The latest design created by the Northampton-based Berkshire Design shows a gathering place near Payson Avenue and Cottage Street and a board walk along the pond where the fence is.

City Planner Stuart Beckley besides Massworks, “other sources could be available.” He said there could be recreation funds or money from the Community Preservation Act if the state amends the law that would allow projects such as this to be eligible.

Samuel Williston created the pond in 1846 to provide waterpower to an expanding base of manufacturing facilities. The city bought it in 1985 from the J.P. Stevens Company, according to a Web site dedicated to saving the pond.

Tautznik said the city is lucky to have the 30-acre pond.

The idea to create the boardwalk has been talked about for about a decade.